What’s the deal with API?

[Deadeye]

Something I’ve been pondering for a while. Why do we value api so much as a test. It seems like there aren’t any other options for freshwater test kits. It is hailed as the best thing we can get for our water. But in marine tanks, it is considered to be a piece of junk. Anyone on a reef forum would see people bashing api just about any time water tests are brought up. Would something like a hanna or salifert be better for freshwater, or is it something about saltwater that makes api so much worse?

 

[fishguy1978]

Price point maybe? A full API master test kit is ~$25, Salifert ~$100 and Hanna north of $200.

 

[Rocksor]

API is good enough for freshwater general use. The orange of the nitrate test may not be exact, but it's good enough all around. We don't need it to be exact like the saltwater folks.

Nutrafin is around the same price point as API, Seachem is a little bit higher because they don't offer a full kit.

 

[Deadeye]

Ah, I see. Just us being less crazy about perfect perfection than reefers.
Funny you should mention nitrate, as it came back as zero on both my reef and planted tank, which does not sound right at all...

 

[The Masked Shadow]

API is usually on point. It is great for young, aspiring aquateers.

edit: I don't think aquateers is a word, but whatever

 

[Deadeye]

API is usually on point. It is great for young, aspiring aquateers.

edit: I don't think aquateers is a word, but whatever

It should be a word. I like it a lot more than aquarist now that you said it lol.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

It should be a word. I like it a lot more than aquarist now that you said it lol.

Petition for Aquateers to be a word starts here! lol

 

[Hendre]

Make sure you always shake your bottles for a good 30sec before testing. API is affordable

 

[FreshyFresh]

I think it's just because it's readily available and affordable. I know I've used the API master test kit for years for this reason. It's more of a go, no-go gauge. Reading red on the nitrate test = no go. Orange = OK.

It would be a tough go for competitors in this particular market.

 

[twentyleagues]

What Rocksor said is pretty much it. It's not that reefers are needing to know if they have around 10ppm nitrate it's how close to 0 they are. Corals react/look different at various nitrate and phosphate levels in particular. When I was into it 0 was thought to be the holy grail. I realized at some point the closer I got to actual 0 the more "pastel" color my corals got and more finicky also. I thought mine looked better somewhere between 5-10ppm. Api is not that accurate so something else needs to be used. I used Hanna for nitrate, phosphate, calcium, and alk. These were more accurate at lower numbers, an api test of "10" could actually be anywhere from 2/3 -15. In fresh water that really means little at least to most. I haven't checked into it much but I contacted Hanna to see if the saltwater reagents and meter would work in fresh, they said no. I didn't ask if the fresh water reagents were compatible with the saltwater meter if indeed those even exist.